Senecas jump on Tornadoes early in 8-2 win

It was a little reminiscent of the Tiffin Honors baseball game last season as Calvert started fast and jumped on Columbian and cruised from there to a win. Monday, it was eerily similar as Calvert scored three runs in the first and two more in the second, while keeping Columbian in check to build a lead in an 8-2 victory.It was timely hitting, solid pitching and a stellar defense that boosted the top-ranked Senecas."Happy with the way we came out offensively and executed," Calvert coach Matt Coleman said. "Tucker (Coleman), has to be able to pitch with a lead, he was able to bear down."We just want to execute. We want to get guys on, move them over and get them in. It doesn't always have to be with hitting … I think Blake (Coleman) started the game with a bunt. We had some groundballs just to move some guys over … we're getting more baseball IQ as the season goes on as to what we need to do to advance and move on. That's a good opponent on the other side and we wish them luck this week."As both teams prepare for the district tournament in respective divisions this week, it was a good tournament tune-up for both.Calvert (23-3) takes on Old Fort Thursday at Margaretta at 2 p.m., while Columbian (10-15) plays Lexington at Tiffin University at 2 p.m. also on Thursday."They're pretty tough in their lineup 1-9 as if you miss a spot they're gonna make you pay for it. In that first inning they hit two or three really hard-hit balls and they run the bases well, they're aggressive, defensively they made some great plays, but made the easy plays as well," Columbian coach Nick Weber said. "They just don't beat themselves. I thought we had some opportunities to get back into the game with the bases loaded in the second with nobody out, we struck out and then grounded into a double play, which ended that threat. "The score was 5-0 at that point, but that's what good teams do is make the plays they have to make and I love playing those guys because they have good sportsmanship and they play the game the right way." After Blake Coleman's bunt to begin the game, AJ Shoemaker drove him in with a RBI single to center, while Cameron Moyer laced a RBI double to center and then Charlie Palm drove in the third run of the inning with an RBI double to right.After a scoreless bottom of the first, Calvert tacked on two more runs in the second as with two outs again, Blake Coleman singled, Vincenzo Lyons drove him in with an RBI double to right center and the Shoemaker drove him in on a single to right. Overall, Calvert out-hit TC 11-3 as Blake Coleman accounted for three of them. The lone Seneca senior has had good success against the crosstown rival."Our mindset is always to score a lot of runs starting off as the visiting team so our pitcher can go out and pound the zone early and I think we did that again today," Blake said. "This was just a great atmosphere down here. I love Tiffin and it's a great place to call home and I think it's awesome to be able to play and live in this community and to play for people that have given their time and effort overseas, to give their lives for this country. "I know it's something heavy on my heart because my grandpa was a veteran, so I think this is an awesome cause and coach (Curt) Mellott does a great job with this event, along with all of the coaching staffs, but it's a great atmosphere out here, but it's always great to have some bragging rights against the team that's right down the street too."The biggest threat early in the game for TC came in the bottom of the second as Blake Gaulden and Ethan Wilcox both drew walks and Conner Reese was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. But freshman Tucker Coleman got a strikeout and then when Braden Egbert hit a grounder back to him on the rubber, he fired it to Connor Moyer at home who then completed the double play to his brother Cameron at first base to escape the jam.Calvert added two more runs in the sixth as Connor Moyer lined a two-run single to center, scoring Cash Lee and Lyons. The freshman pitching duo of Tucker Coleman and Palm no-hit the Tornadoes through six innings. TC managed to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh as Jayce Arias smoked a RBI double to right center, followed by an RBI single from Isaiah Tilse."It was nice to not get shutout there at the end to put up those two runs at the end, but yeah our guys always compete and play hard until the end," Weber said. "That gives us a little juice there at the end heading into Thursday's game after a long weekend off, so we can get back into the groove of things."At the end of the day, a Memorial Day with sunshine, baseball and all for a good cause, it was a win-win for both teams."Listen, you want to win don't get me wrong, but this is what it's all about, having a ton of people around all over the place and having all of the businesses helping out with the donations and having the softball side getting a piece of it too," Weber said. "Plus, I loved we had our youth tournament this weekend too with helpers from Calvert and our people helping together, but I could do this anytime. This is a great cause and it's awesome to be a part of it, so hopefully we can keep growing this thing. It's for the Seneca Honor Bus, which we want to do everything we can to help them, so it's been a lot of fun."Coach Coleman added: "I've always loved this day to begin with thinking about everyone who has served and then bringing firemen, the police, first responders into it," he said. "But just the community in general, but there's been some points to this spring season where it's been tough, thinking about the New Riegel community and what they've been through. "So for us to keep going and enjoy each day, it's pretty cool. Veterans mean a lot to me, plus the police and firemen as well, they're certainly underappreciated at times."